132 Brier ley. — Spore Germination in Onygena equina , Willd. 
whilst the full-grown but unripe ascospores are appreciably less resistant 
than the mature spores. It is worthy of note that ripe ascospores and 
chlamydospores which have been exposed to a freezing temperature for five 
hours, and then treated with gastric juice at 23 0 C. for a similar length of 
time, retain almost undiminished their germinative capacity. If the reverse 
treatment be adopted and the spores are first digested and then frozen 
they become incapable of germination. 
Ascospores are highly resistant to desiccation, and, as already noted, 
will germinate after twelve months 5 drying in situ at room temperature. If 
air-dried from a water suspension on cover slips and kept at 23° C., they are 
still viable after a period of seven weeks ; at 37 0 C., after three weeks, but 
not after four weeks ; and at 54° C., not after two hours. Spores air-dried 
upon human hair or cotton-wool from a suspension in water, and maintained 
at 23 0 C., had lost no power of germination after nine weeks ; and at 37 0 C. 
still showed abundant germination at the end of a similar period. Spores 
which had germinated and were then dried out on the cover-slip at any 
temperature proved incapable of further growth. 
No appreciable difference is to be noted in the germination of spores 
occurring in darkness or the diffuse light of the laboratory. 
Summary. 
The ripe ascospores of Onygena equina will germinate directly after 
a prolonged resting period, which may be curtailed or eliminated by 
a preliminary treatment of the spores with artificial gastric juice, but not 
by subjection to low temperatures. 
The full-grown unripe ascospores and the chlamydospores will 
germinate immediately in the absence of digestive treatment. 
